Roadside Rest

ROADSIDE REST Captivating Yavapai County Reluctantly Spawns a Population Boom

It's dawned on us recently that many close friends and working acquaintances from all the compass points have somehow arranged to pass their best and maybe final years in and around Prescott.

There is the consummate Texas editor whose wife now breathes the clear, pine-scented air of mile-high Prescott, far removed from humidity and pollution. And the long ago Virginia school chum, become the renowned physician. And the no-longer-sailing couple retired from Ohio to a glassy eagle's nest overlooking the Verde Valley. And a former California shopkeeper now dwelling as a hermit in a simple cabin in a remote canyon.

Not to mention the nativeborn and in-state refugees who get away from the hustle and stress of Phoenix and other Arizona urban centers. New and old Prescottonians prefer the open spaces and genteel lifestyle of our state's first territorial capital. Alas, in so doing, each contributes to the booming population, and quickening economy, of one of Arizona's fastest-growing communities.

"Don't you ever, ever, ever dare to write a complimentary article again about Prescott, do you hear?" a fifth-generation daughter of Prescott pioneers fairly shrieked at me in conversation some months ago. "We should have thrown a chain across the highway when we had the chance."

Should have, maybe. But didn't.

With its classic Yavapai County Courthouse and plaza, public forests, historic Whiskey Row, romantic Victorian neighborhoods, enterprising Indian landowners, artistic expositions, and athletic events including the world's oldest rodeoPrescott would inevitably attract the visitors and settlers whose sheer numbers would spur the town to a faster pace.

reporter for the Courier in Evansville, Indiana, and it was newsworthy when a deputy sheriff from Prescott came to my town to pick up a prisoner accused of an Arizona crime.

"I went over to the hotel to interview the deputy. He had on a big cowboy hat and ranch clothes, boots and all. We hit it off just fine. I asked him about the West and cases he had worked on and the country Also working against the wishes of my keep-Prescottsmall lady friend was the personal charm of the early generations of Yavapai County people themselves. By illustration, when I was younger and writing a daily newspaper column, a gentleman from Terre Haute, Indiana, appeared one day to explain why he was satisfying a years-long ambition to see Yavapai County firsthand. Ned Bush by name, the Hoosier testified:

"During the 1930s, I was a

where he lived. It was more of a friendly talk than an interview, but, as it was growing late in the afternoon, I finally got up to go.

"The deputy asked me to dinner. He said he would be honored if I'd stay and go on talking to him, exchanging facts about our two states.

"'I'm sorry,' I said, 'but my family will be expecting me. My wife will have dinner waiting. Much obliged. Thanks all the same.'

"The deputy insisted. He said

he could get the hotel to fix dinner in a hurry, and we would have some more conversation.

"I told him he was kind, but wouldn't he please understand that, if I didn't run on home, my folks would begin to worry about me. Thanks very much, but no thanks.

"Right then, so quick that he took me by surprise, the deputy drew his handcuffs and snapped one cuff on my wrist.

"He dragged me over to the foot of the bed and snapped the other cuff to the bedstead. And this is what he said: "'Friend, I'm from Yavapai County. And where I come from, when a man is invited to dinner, he stays.' "When the dinner was eaten, the deputy fished up his key and unlocked the handcuffs and let me go.

"I've long since forgotten his name.

"But I guess I'll remember Yavapai County as long as I live."

I saw the Prescott of Nedo about 16,000 residents, all shopping within walking distance of home. The Sharlot Hall Museum complex was expanding around the original log Governor's Mansion, and more than a few inspired cul-tural leaders were parlaying a splendid public school tradition into a flowering of statuary, symphony, and opera.

Today, depending on where the line is drawn, greater Prescott counts some 30,000 souls. Efforts have been made to control and plan for the growth of Yavapai County, little of which mollifies my first-family Prescottonian who failed to hang the chain across the highway. Hers is the unwanted inheritance of a people and a place that is unforgettably captivating.